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By admin on September 3, 2013
For all those lobster eating lovers out there…you may be interested to know that one of the biggest threats to lobsters other than man are the lobsters themselves!
With the ever increasing temperature of the sea due to global warming, lobsters are over producing and feeding on themselves as there is a shortage of their normal staple meals of cod, herring and ‘ground fish’. So not only do young lobsters have to keep a vigil eye out for their regular predators, they now have to be on guard from their family members and friends alike.
Although lobsters have been known to assault and eat each other in captivity — not a surprising reaction given the conditions – marine biologists have recently observed an unprecedented degree of lobster cannibalism taking place in the wild.
Noah Oppenheim, a biologist studying the New England marine ecosystem, was the first to record the new development by setting up a camera trap using a young lobster as bait, reports The Independent.
When the same kind of experiments were conducted 20 years ago, other fish would feed on the bait; now, it’s adult lobsters that are swooping in and making mincemeat of their young. After repeated experiments, scientists concluded that juvenile lobsters were 90 percent more likely to be attacked and eaten by adult lobsters than by any other type of fish.
Oppenheim believes that rising water temperatures are to blame; over the past decade, the average temperature in the coastal water there has been 50.7 degrees Fahrenheit, a significant increase above the century average of 47.6 degrees.
“As the water temperatures elevate, lobsters both become more fecund,” said Oppenheim, speaking to James West of Climate Desk. “They reproduce more frequently and with larger broods and they grow more rapidly. If we enjoy eating lobsters perhaps other lobsters enjoy eating lobsters too.”
Noah Oppenheim’s plan was simple: Rig a young lobster underneath a waterproof, infrared camera; drop the contraption overboard off the coast of Maine; and see who comes along for a bite to eat. The takers, he expected, would be fish: Cod, herring, and other “groundfish” found in these waters that are known to love a good lobster dinner. Similar experiments conducted in the 1990s showed that apart from being snatched up in one of the thousands of traps that sprinkle the sea floor here—tools of this region’s signature trade—fish predation was the principle cause of lobster death. Instead, Oppenheim, a marine biology graduate student at the University of Maine, captured footage that looks like it comes straight from the reel of a 1950s B-grade horror movie: Rampant lobster cannibalism.
After doing some research I learned some interesting facts about lobsters that may be of news to you as well:
Spiny lobster and American lobster |
I was fortunate enough to eat some fresh PEI Lobster a couple of weeks ago…mouth watering to say the least! FT
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